Custom UFI label and packaging verification app
An incorrect code on a label is silent damage. It looks right, it scans, and only when someone places it beside the file does it become clear it's the code from the previous formulation. On the shop floor, at the end of a production line or during repacking, that's the moment it can still be put right.
What the label must get right
A hazardous mixture placed on the market carries a UFI: sixteen alphanumeric characters in four blocks, prefixed with the letters UFI. The code includes a check digit, so a typing error is picked up. What isn't so obvious is a code that is valid in itself but belongs to a different formulation.
This happens more often than you might think. A formulation is changed, a new code is issued, and a stock of labels from the previous run is still on hand. Or a product is repacked for another market and the packaging receives the label that happened to be closest.
The code belongs on the label. For industrial use, and for mixtures that are not packaged, it may appear on the safety data sheet instead. This means the check on the shop floor isn't always the same: sometimes you look at a label, sometimes at the document that travels with the product.
An app doesn't resolve the management. Formulations, code issuance and notifications belong in your PCN software. What the app solves is that someone on the shop floor can establish within a few seconds whether what's on this packaging matches what's inside it.
How we build this
The app revolves around a single action: scan and get an answer. Anything that requires a data-entry screen is skipped at a production line.
The operator scans the batch code or the packaging. From that moment the app knows which formulation it concerns.
The UFI on the label is scanned or photographed. The built-in check catches a reading error before anything is compared.
The code read is placed alongside the current code for that formulation. Green or red, with no intermediate steps.
If it doesn't match, the operator records it with a photo of the label. The alert goes to whoever can hold the batch.
What the app does in practice
The line check carries the whole process. The rest depends on your production and on whether you also repack for third parties.
Scan and verify
The code on the label is compared with the code belonging to this formulation. One action, one answer.
Protection against reading errors
The built-in check in the code catches a misread character, so a reading error isn't reported as a deviation.
Works with gloves
Large buttons, high contrast and scanning instead of typing. At a line, what counts is the number of actions, not the number of features.
Available without coverage
Coverage in a production hall or warehouse varies. The app works locally and synchronises as soon as there is a connection.
Deviation with imagery
A photo of the label attached to the report, with the time and the batch included. This way it's possible to see afterwards exactly what was printed.
Back to the file
What is reported on the shop floor lands with the formulation, so regulatory can see that something went wrong and where.
Who we build for
Who carries out the check varies by company. Four situations.
Operators on the labelling line
They see the labels passing by and are the last to stop a wrong run before the batch leaves.
Quality staff
They carry out spot checks on a batch and want to record them without transcribing them into a form afterwards.
Warehouse and dispatch
When repacking or resorting, labels and packaging that don't belong together come together. A quick check is worth the most there.
Contract packers
If you package for several clients, the codes you work with aren't your own. In that case, what matters most is that the source is unambiguous.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
Codes, label formats and usage categories change. What gets scanned and what it's checked against should be configurable, not hard-coded into the app.
Why Appfront
A code that scans doesn't have to be right
The built-in check only confirms that the code was read correctly, not that it belongs to this mixture. That difference is the whole point of the check.
The shop floor is not an office
Gloves, noise and pace. We build for the number of steps that is realistic there, not for the screen that looks best in the office.
The source isn't on the phone
What the code is checked against comes from the formulation register. A list someone once exported is not a reliable source.
We don't approve your batch
Whether a batch may leave is a decision for your organisation. We make sure the finding is on the table in good time and backed by evidence.
Security and privacy
An app that checks against the formulation register touches confidential recipe information. On the shop floor we therefore never display the composition, only whether the code belongs to the batch. Access runs by role, what is stored locally on the device is encrypted, and it can be remotely wiped if a phone is lost.
For this subject, the reliability of the moment is the key point. A check entered afterwards says nothing about the batch that was on the line at the time. We record scans and notifications in an unalterable way with timestamp, batch and person, even when synchronisation happens later, and any correction is made as a visible correction. For how we handle security ourselves, see our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about label checking
Whether the code on this packaging belongs to the formulation of this batch. The built-in check in the code catches a reading error, but on its own that says nothing about correctness.
Yes. For industrial use and unpackaged mixtures, the code may appear there. The app can check against the document instead of the label.
Yes. The data needed for the comparison is stored locally on the device. Notifications synchronise once the connection is restored.
No. On the shop floor the app only shows whether the code belongs to the batch. The composition stays in the register and is shielded by role.
The employee records it with a photo of the label and the batch alongside. The notification goes to whoever can hold the batch; the app does not block anything itself.
We build that side separately. Formulations, issuing and delivery are described on our PCN software page.
Would you spot an old label on the line right now?
Take a batch of a product whose formulation has ever been changed and place the code on the packaging next to the current file. If that takes longer than a minute, the check will not happen on the shop floor. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader app development project.